Contreras-Sweet said many veterans join the military in search of direction, and they emerge with business skills including discipline, leadership and perseverance, adding:

Entrepreneurs and veterans are very similar.

She also mentioned that the biggest challenge veterans faced a few years ago was the nation’s weak economy, with few job opportunities and little funding for entrepreneurial ventures, adding that consumer small business confidence has now reached pre-recession levels, and saying:

For veterans this means they come home to communities that have great confidence in entrepreneurship.